Process of producing mats or bats of fibrous material.



No. 735 218. y PATENTED AU 1 J. nE-LONG. G 4" 903 PROCESS OF PRODUCING MATS OR BATS 0F PIBROUS MATERIAL.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 2, 1901.

No MODEL.

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i `UN`ITED STATES Patented August 4, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS LONG, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PROCESSfOFAPRODUCING MATS R BATS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No. 735,218, dated August 4, `1903.

` vApplication iiled August 2, 1901. Serial No. 70,666. (No specimens.)

To a/ZZ whom/t may concern.- l.

. Be it known that I, JULIUs DE LoNe, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the city and State of New York,

sired shape, size, or contour in cross-sectionA andof any desired length; and with this object in view my invention consists in a processof forming mats or bats of fibrous mate-V rial by injecting a fiber-laden blast of air into a forming or molding chamber the `walls of which are constructed to) produce amat orV bat of the desired size, shape, or contour in cross-se @tion and preferably continuously delllverin g or discharging from such forming and molding chamber the mat or bat as it is .pro-` duoed.

. By my improved processthe disintegrated fiber is carried and forced by a blast of air into the forming or molding chamber, into which `it :is` packed or molded and is first forced and packed against a removable door in the end of such formingor molding chamber and ,subsequentlyT against the end or one edge of the' mat o r bat itself which is in proc-f ess of formation, so that theidisintegrated fiber is packed and molded into the chamber or mold, the walls of which determine the size of the mat or bat and impart to it any desired s hapenor` contour. in cross-section. the operation the air is allowed to escape throughsuitable perforations in the walls of the forming andA molding chamber.

By my process a mat or bat of any desired.

size and form. in cross -section is produced which is more uniform in its density than is attainable by any apparatusY or process heretofore in use for the production of mats or bats of fibrous material. i i i In my applicatiomSerial No. 38, S76, filed the 6th of December, 1900, I have shown and described Vvarious forms ofapparatus suitable for use in carryingmy novel process into effect. i

While various forms and construction of o apparatusmay be employed for the purpose,

l have shown in the drawings forming part of tion on the line 3 3.

Durln g the present application a simple apparatus suitable for the purpose, in which- Figure lis plan view of a simple apparatus suitable for the purpose. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse secsection on theline 4 4. i

Cotton, hair, or other fiber thoroughly disintegrated is taken from a suitable picker l or other source of supply through a feed or `conductor pipe 2 by a blower 3 and delivered into a condensing-chamber 4 and by means of any desirable number of variable dampers 4a 4b 4c is equalized and spread out into a lbroad flat stream which` is so regulated by` such variable dampers that the same amount of fiber will be delivered with the same air- `ing chamber. They may, however, be placed `in` any or all of the walls of said chamber,

their obj ect being to permit the escape of air and yet retain the fiber within the chamber, or one or more of the walls of the battingchamber or a portion of one of such walls may be made of wire or other suitable netting as a mechanical equivalent of perfora tions shown in plate 7, which will likewise `permit the escape of the air and yet retain `the fiber.

After the fiber has been deposited in a sufficient quantity to form an obstruction to the air-current the plate or door 6 is removed, permitting the bat of liber deposited in the chamber to be carried forward by the movement of an endless apron 8, passing over the bed 9, forming the bottom wall of the chamber 5, and extending back beneath the chamber 4.

One or more valve-doors 10 are placed in the chamber 4 to provide for the escape of Fig. 4 is a transverse- IOO air under excessive pressure or in case the movement of the apron 8 or passage of the bat or mat in chamber has been stopped, or if the deposit of ber in the chamber 5 becomes so great as to check the free passage or ow through the perforations.'

The side walls of the chamber 5 are made up of a number of strips 11, provided with pins 1la to provide for adjustment for different thicknesses of the deposit. The strips 11 are placed in different positions on the bed 9 to provide for different Widths of the bat and are provided with right-angled extensions lll to close the opening between the strips and the side walls of the chamber 4. Different widths of aprons 8 are introduced to suit the adjusted width between the strips 11.

The plate 7 is provided with an upward extension 7 a to close the opening between the said plate and the top of the chamber 4 when the plate 7 is lowered for different thicknesses of mat. y

The chamber 4 is provided with longitudiknal partitions 12 to form the side Walls, be-

tween which the dampers 4 4J 4C work, and a portion 13 of the side wall of the chamber 4 is hinged at 14, so as to be swung in to the partitions 12, when the strips 11 in the chamber 5 are adjusted to a corresponding' position. The dampers 4a, 4b, and 4c are also afjustable to regulate the volume of air and er.

The several dampers 4L 4b 4c are formed with upwardly-projecting wings 4d to maintain the closure of the joint between them and the top of the casing, when they are adjusted downward and with suitable means,

" such as perforated bars 4e and pins 4f, to fix them at any angle of adjustment.

15 represents a roller, preferably of yielding material, mounted on journals in the side walls and between the bed 9 and the bottom of the chamber 4 for the purpose of closing the throat or space between these parts toprevent the escape of air therethrough.

Various details in the construction of the apparatus which may be employed are shown and described in my application, Serial No. 38,87 6, herein referred to.

Other forms of apparatus may be used in carrying out the process, which consists, essentially, in forming mats or bats of fibrous material in a molding-chamber by means of an air-blast by which disintegrated fibrous matter is carried and delivered to the mat or bat in process of formation.

The process may be carried on intermittingly in a closable forming and molding chamber, the door constituting the end of such chamber, against which the fibrous matter carried by the blast is projected by its momentum and the momentum and pressure ofthe air, and such door being opened for the delivery and removal of each section of mat or bat so formed. -Preferab1y,however,the process is carried on continuously, as above described, so that the door at the end of the chamber is used only at the beginning of the operation, after which the end of the mat or bat in process of formation itself constitutes the obstruction against which the brous matter is projected and packed and molded by momentum and air-pressure. By this means any break in the mat or bat is avoided, and a continuous mat or bat is produced of indenite length and of great homogeneity or uniformity in structure.

The invention is well adapted for the production of felt mats of indenite length from hair, wool, fur, or other animal ber or for producing a bat of indenite length from cotton or other vegetable ber.

The invention is also adapted for the construction of mattresses or other similar articles.

I am aware that it is old to employ a room,

box, chamber, or receptacle which acts as a settling-chamber into which theber is introduced by means of an air-blast and made to settle by gravity upon the oor thereof, and I make no claim to any process which involves the use of any such room, box, chamber, or receptacle, it being characteristic of my process, as herein before described, that the mat or bat has its shape and dimensions controlled and determined by the walls of the molding-chamber to the extent and in the manner herein described.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The process of producing mats or batsl of brous material, which consists in forcing a ber-laden current of air into a moldingchamber and packing and molding the fibrous material in said chamber, by the pressure and momentum of the injected air and fiber, substantially as set forth.

2. The process of producing mats or bats of brous material, which consists in forcing a fiber-laden current of air into a moldingchamber and packing and molding the fibrous material 'in said chamber by means ofthe current of air, while permitting the air to escape, substantially as set forth.

8. The process of producing mats or bats of fibrous material, which consists in forcing a ber-laden current of air into a moldingchamber and packing and molding the brous material in such chamber by the pressure and momentum of the injected air and ber and varying the density of the brous bat by regulating the force of the current of air, substantially as set forth.

4. The process of producing fibrous mats or bats of any desired length which consists in conveying disintegrated ber by a current of air into a mold and utilizing the force of the air-'current to pack and mold the ber against one end of the molded mat or bat, and discharging the bat or mat from the mold as it is formed therein, substantially as set forth. Y

5. The process of producing a continuous IOO IIO

length of fibrous mat or bat `which consists Signed. at New York city, in the county of in continuously conveying disintegrated ber New York `@und State of NevT York, this 8th bya current of air into arnold and eompressday of July, A. D. 1901.

ing and molding the ber therein by the JULIUS DE LONG. 5 pressure of air and continuously discharging Vtnesses:

the molded and compressed bat from theA WILLARD N. BAYLIS,

mold, substantially as set forth. CYRUS D. BAOKUS. 

